


The House in the Forest

by Burdenedwithgloriousporpoise



Series: Marlowe Fics [12]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Horror, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, But no slasher-ness because that's lazy and disinteresting and far from escapist, Creepy, F/M, Gen, Hopefully Spoopy, Paranormal Investigators, Smoking, Vampires, junji ito inspired, mainly for flavor i don't know where it's going from here lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 04:52:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12357876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burdenedwithgloriousporpoise/pseuds/Burdenedwithgloriousporpoise
Summary: Wooo, October! Bring on the pre-Halloween Spoopyness!!! :D <3





	The House in the Forest

**Author's Note:**

> Wooo, October! Bring on the pre-Halloween Spoopyness!!! :D <3

The shuffle of her footsteps paused in the harsh white circle of light on the pavement, streetlight above humming, bugs plinking off its plastic shield.

“There,” she pointed, a quaver in her voice.

Beyond, the streetlight above the path to the woods was out, darkness almost utter in the contrast.

“Down that way, huh? Atmospheric.”

“Yeah,” she said. She’d been edging closer to him as they walked and now bumped against his arm and recoiled, clutching her wrist, a thin film of sweat on her face. “I don’t get why you want to come out and see it...I mean, the police pretend it never happened and you can’t get anyone else to believe you. What can we do about it?” She seemed to bristle and turned sharply to face him. “I hope you don’t want to actually go inside! I’m certainly not coming with you! And why did you want to come at night, if you’re going to investigate?”

He smiled slightly. “I thought it would be a more authentic experience.”

“Marlowe, you were a police officer! Not some sort of Sherlock-Holmes adventurer! You’re not gonna be solving the next Jack-the-Ripper case, especially not one the rest of the police force won’t even touch!”

Her voice had risen and he put his finger to his lips. She paled, tone quieting to a harsh whisper. “Marlowe--”

“You were an officer too, Hitch,” he said.

“Look...the accident...your head…” she shook her head, shoulders rising in a defensive shrug. “Have you ever thought...maybe this isn’t you talking? Maybe you wouldn’t’ve said this before…”

He blinked, twice, and there was a stinging pause. “No...you know me better than that, I think. This is pretty normal.”

She nodded, brow furrowed, gaze downcast. “I’m sorry.”

He looked towards the broken streetlight. “It’s fine. I know you mean the best.”

A pause, and then he looked back to her. “I want to investigate, but you don’t have to come with me.”

Her eyes were wide in a pale face, sweat trickling down her temples. “Then what, I’m just gonna stay _here_? Alone? Or come with you into that haunted murder house? No way. No way! You got half your head bashed in and almost lost two limbs on a similar ‘great idea’. You were in a coma for six months! Your decision making is really not great!”

“I didn’t plan that mission, and even if I had, there was no way we could’ve anticipated what happened. I’m still here, aren’t I? And besides. You followed me here. What did you think was gonna happen?”

She pouted and folded her arms. “This is a stupid idea.”

“You don’t have to come,” he said again, edging from the circle of light. She groaned and skipped a step, latching onto his arm as they left the streetlight behind.

He stopped only a few inches beyond and she flinched, nestled closer, then seemed to pry herself off.

If this was really as she described…

He closed his eyes a moment, then turned slightly away and fished beneath his sleeve to unhook the silver bracelet from around his wrist, tucking it into a leather pouch in his pocket.

Red light pulsed and spun across the landscape with each quickening beat of his heart as energy ripped through his veins, a barrage of heightened senses and an intense, searing hunger--from his vest pocket he pulled a cigarette and lighter, hands trembling, barely visible in the shifting, screaming landscape, Hitch a light beside him, the flick of his thumb on the lighter wheel like an avalanche and the ignition like a cannon-shot--catch of fire on paper like a cascade of rushing water and it felt as though his head would split beneath the barrage. Somehow he brought the roll of paper shaking to his lips and took a draw.

As he exhaled the landscape seemed to steady, the barrage of noises faded, his heart still loud. He inhaled again and the red faded to near-daylight tones, sounds fading to a murmur.

Hitch’s head tilted as she looked over, eyes wide. “What are you doing?” she whispered, surprised, irritated, bewildered.

At the next cycle it was as if the haze lifted, quiet returned and only slight nausea remaining--but this noxious thing would cure that as well, in time.

“You never used to smoke!” She blinked, shook her head again. “You always used to rip on the smokers at the barracks--!” She cut herself off with a stammer, gawking, at a seeming loss for words. Her tones softened. “Are you sure you’re alright? Look...I was scared, earlier, and I shouldn’t’ve been that way about it. But I’m still scared, and I want to be sure you’re really in control of your mental faculty before you do something like this. I’m kind of responsible for you that way, at least in my mind. I don’t want you to hurt yourself if there’s even the slightest chance that you aren’t 100% aware of what you’re trying to do. That's...why I came." There was a pause as she looked away again, tears in her eyes, then back. "Smoking isn’t a crime, but it wasn’t you before. Are you really…” She swallowed, worry etched into her features. “Are you really confident enough to take this chance with both of our lives?”

It was painful to see her like this--more so to know that she really would follow him. Their camraderie in the force had been exemplary. “You trusted me before. Will you trust me again?”

She hesitated a long and painful moment, eyes narrowing slightly as if trying to weigh all their interactions past and present to judge his authenticity. It was oddly disturbing, unsettling, and for a moment it felt as though he was watching from outside his body, now nameless, identity stripped away and inaccessible...

Then something in her look seemed to change. A guarded acceptance, as though she wasn't sure why. “...Fine. I'll trust you. I'll come, though it seems like I shouldn't. But if you start doing any crazy stuff--” she twirled her pointer finger beside her temple, “--I’m dragging you out. Deal?”

He smiled. “Sounds fair. Who gets to define the crazy stuff?”

She rolled her eyes. “Obviously not the crazy guy.”

“Got your service weapon?”

“Yeah. Is that why you wanted me here? Because you knew I’d be the only one dumb enough to smuggle my gun out the station because you said ‘please’?”

He grinned. “I didn’t say that…”

“Ugh! Why do I put up with you?”

As they stood before the path, an instantaneous and deathly stillness fell. Cracked pavement sloping up into a line of trees, bright as day to him, chokingly dark to her. She bumped against his arm again and this time didn’t pull back. “Flashlight?” she whispered.

He could see fine--she didn’t know that. The flashlight would mess up his vision and possibly alert whatever might be there to their presence. No. If she could do what he thought she could, she wouldn’t need one either. “Wait on it,” he said. “I don’t think you’ll need one.”

No objection. She was instinctively slipping back into cop mode. Good. Once that turned on, she was ready for anything. Although hopefully his injury wouldn’t cause her to invalidate it and pull out. That was concerning...

A single strip of “Police Line: Do Not Cross” tape cordoned off the path, a pathetic and lonely effort. As if anyone would come this way after what had happened, though. Said they’d lost some more officers in the aftermath, though details were scarce...weren’t sending anyone else back there, though. Not till they knew what was going on.

He took another drag on his cigarette. His chances were better.

And her?

Even on the force, her uncanny intuition had saved their lives, though he’d chalked it up to honed skill. It seemed from her action in saving him, though, that there was a dimension to her ability that exceeded prowess. Even now. If that was the case, given the circumstance, her presence was well worth the risk. She could be the key to this investigation. But he dare not say anything. It would be best to let it develop on its own.

His heart pounded, gaze locked past the boundary line into the silent, sinister forest. Another inhale, another cloud of smoke. He’d have to finish it before they entered. After the next one he dropped it and crushed it beneath his heel, then picked up the remains and tucked in in his pocket. There were standards, after all.

He looked to her. She swallowed and nodded, then followed close behind as they ducked under the tape and started up the path. Gooseflesh rose on his arms and Hitch shuddered. On the inside it felt like the darkness was darker, the space wider like a mouth--closer like a presence. He swallowed the feeling down and led them forward. There were many unknowns, to be sure...but just because the others ignored it didn’t mean the clock wasn’t ticking.

**Author's Note:**

> You know that feeling where you've finished a stage of a project but your progress is now reliant on somebody else so it takes a long time? And in the meantime you're stuck in limbo of having nothing to work on while knowing your work isn't done?
> 
> (^^A part-time author waiting for the 3rd draft of an original novel to be revised)
> 
> I realized the remedy for this is to write and post something, anything, even if it's a weird idea for your obsessive rare-pair!! iT'S SO NICE to just FINISH SOMETHING without agonizing over it for months like a manuscript, isn't it? <3 Ahhh I missed this feeling <3
> 
> Plus I just discovered Junji Ito, and have gained inspiration as well as sleepless nights (O)__(O)
> 
> Happy Spoopy Season!! :D


End file.
